Missing Nights
by EpicComicLover26
Summary: What would happen if the team had to face a deadly new rival while looking for their lost friend? Even worse, what if they were one in the same? Will the team be able to save Robin? Or will he be lost to one of the worlds deadliest assassins? Read and Review as always!
1. Chapter 1

**_Here it is guys! Another fanfic as promised! Enjoy! ;)_**

_Chapter 1- _

"Guy's night!" Kid Flash shouted. He was running back and forth from the kitchen to the training room eating food and talking too quickly for anyone to understand. The League was letting the team take a break and Miss Martin and Artemis were having a sleep over at Artemis's apartment, leaving the cave to the boys.

Batman and the Flash were standing in the corner.

"Why did we leave the soda in the fridge where he could get it?" Batman scowled at his friend.

"Oh, come on Bats. Let him have his fun. We never let them have the cave to themselves." Flash countered with his ever- present smile on his face. Batman and the Flash turned to see the sugar happy Kid run in circles until he crashed into Robin, effectively knocking them both to the ground. Robin punched Kid Flash in the arm. They both started laughing.

"I think I know why we never did." Batman sighed.

Conner, Kaldur, Kid and Robin watched as the two Leaguers zeta tubed away.

"Alright! Let's get this party started!" Kid shouted, throwing his hands in the air. Conner rolled his eyes.

"Uh, Wally?" Robin asked.

"What?"

"Do you want to stay in uniform all night?" Wally looked down at his yellow and red suit. "Oh… Be right back!" He zoomed away in a quick blur and was back just as fast in jeans and a t-shirt. "Okay guys! The League promised they wouldn't contact us till the morning so we have all night to ourselves!" Kaldur sighed behind him.

"We can not trash the cave. It is still M' gann and Conner's home." Conner huffed. "It's not much of one." Kaldur shook his head.

"Even so…" Kaldur persisted with a look of irritation on his face. Robin stepped into the middle of their discussion. He was wearing a short sleeved gray hoodie with jeans and dark sun glasses.

"Guys, we can watch a movie while getting hyped up on sugar and then play video games until some ungodly hour of the morning. How does that sound?" Conner and Kaldur nodded, their dark moods lifting.

"But I wanted to party!" Wally pouted at his friend. Robin smiled.

"Afraid I'll crush you again?"

"As if!" Wally shouted back, his smile returning. All four of them started to walk to the T.V room when Conner abruptly stopped, puzzlement on his face.

"What is it?" Kaldur asked, knitting his eye brows. Robin and Wally kept moving down the hall talking about videogames.

"I hear… beeping." Conner said, tilting his head to the side. "Over by the wall. It's faint but I can still pick it up."

_Beeping. _Kaldur thought. Then he realized there could only be one thing beeping in the wall.

"Robin, Kid! MOVE!" He shouted. Kid reacted first. Grabbing Robin's arm, he pulled him away from the wall in a super sprint. One second later, the stone wall exploded into a cloud of dust.

Kaldur and Conner were pushed back by the blast and fell to the floor near Wally and Robin. Conner got up and hefted Kaldur to his feet. The newly created hole in the wall led to the outside of the cave and darkened light from the fading sun poured in. They heard foot steps. A man in a dark blue and orange suit walked through. A long sword was strapped to his back. He wore a mask that was black on one side and orange on the other. There was only one eye hole on the orange side. Robin sucked in a sharp breath.

"Not him…" He took a step back. Kaldur eyed his friend with confusion. He couldn't remember the last time Robin had looked nervous.

The strange man walked farther into the cave and Conner stepped forward.

"Who are you and what do you want?" He demanded, the harshness in his voice apparent. The man looked at the boys and started to chuckle. "I came here for one of you, actually." He said in a deep voice that was smooth, but filled with venom.

"Him." He pointed to Robin.

"Please." Wally snorted. "You think you can just waltz right in here and take our friend? Think again." He was worried about his secret I.D being out in the open, but he wasn't going to go change and let this creep take his friend. He moved protectively in front of Robin. The others did that same.

"I wouldn't recommend putting up a fight." The man said, pulling out his sword. "It would only end badly for you."

"Whatever reason you want our friend for, it does not matter. You cannot have him." Kaldur said, calm as ever. He pulled out his water weapons.

"Um, guys… That's Death Stroke. He's a mercenary." Robin started to explain. He wanted to call the League. He knew what this guy was capable of. He didn't want his friends hurt. "Maybe we should-"

"It doesn't matter who he is. He stepped on our turf, he's dog food." Wally cut him off. Then he charged at the intruder.

"Wally, no!" Robin yelled. Wally tried to move under Death Strokes arms and knock him out under his legs, but the mercenary was faster than he thought. He jumped over the speedster with ease and used a side kick to launch him into the far wall.

"Wally!" Conner yelled, switching into his Superboy mode. He jumped at the man with his fist out to punch, but Death Stroke moved like lightning. He grabbed Superboy's arm and smashed him into the ground. Then he pulled out a glowing red rock. Superboy collapsed.

_Red Kryptonite. _Superboy grimaced as he felt his strength leave as deadly as green, but enough to paralyze him. He lay on the floor watching the battle, struggling.

Wally was up on his feet again, becoming Kid Flash as he put on the red goggles he had in his pocket. But before he could do anything though, Death Stroke threw a blue sticky blob at him. When it collided with his chest, the substance spread over his body like moving glue. He twisted and turned, trying to break free, but it had him trapped.

Kaldur used his weapons as swords and engaged the man. He dogged and sliced, but Death Strokes attacks came too quickly. He brought down the hilt of his sword on Kaldur's head and the atlantian slumped to the floor. Then he turned to Robin.

"Not too bright are they?" He took a step towards the boy. "Oh, by the way, I prefer the term hired assassin over mercenary."

Robin had watched as his friends had fought for him. Now it was his turn. He got down into a fighting stance.

"Alright little man." Death Stroke mocked. "Let's see what you got."

He charged at the young hero and sliced at him with his sword. Robin jumped and flew threw the air. He landed on the assassin's shoulders with his hands, making Death Stroke grunt, and landed on the balls of his feet behind him. Robin tried to knock him off his feet, but Death Stroke's fist came around faster than he thought it would. He received a hard punch to the gut, and before he knew it, he was being lifted into the air. Death Stroke threw him by the monitor. He landed with an _oof!_ Robin looked at his attacker and back at the computer. He ran to it and sent a rapid call for help to the WatchTower. Then a fist clamped a cloth over his face and he staggered back.

"Whoa there kid! Can't have you calling in the Calvary now." Death Stroke laughed. Robin tried to pull the cloth away, but Death Stroke was too strong and the drug was already taking affect. He wobbled and fell to the ground. Death Stroke picked him up and threw him over his shoulder and made his way to the hole in the wall.

"Robin!" Wally cried. He struggled again, but he couldn't break free. He saw the face of his friend as he mouthed the word _Help _and lost all consciousness. Then they were gone. Wally pulled and shouted. He even tried vibrating out, only to result in a bloody nose. This couldn't be happening!

_Batman: B02. Flash: B03. _The zeta tubes glowed and his mentor and the Batman ran through.

"Wally! What's wrong? We got the S.O.S-" Flash looked around. "Oh." He said, dumb founded. Batman grabbed the Red Kryptonite and dropped it into a led box.

"Thanks." Superboy muttered. Batman looked at the unconscious Aqualad and Kid.

"Where's Robin?" Batman's head looked around the room, franticly. Kid jerked his head towards the giant whole in the wall.

"He took him!" Flash sped threw the hole to try and find them. Batman looked angrier than the time when Kid and Robin made the sound system fill the entire cave with dub step. And that was saying something. He turned to Kid.

"Who took him?" he seethed.

"He called himself Death Stroke." Aqualad said, rubbing the knot on his head from the sword blow. Batman looked like he was going to blow a fuse. The Flash ran back inside.

"I searched the whole island. They're gone." Batman's back straitened. Then he abruptly turned to the zeta tubes. Just before leaving, he called back,

"Get the team together. This takes top priority."

_**Hope everyone liked it! be on the look out for the next chapter.**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Enjoy!**

_Chapter 2- _

Red Arrow stood on top of the Star Labs building in the heart of StarCity. It was around ten o'clock and he was looking out over the city for some action. Green Arrow had covered most of the crime areas already, and Roy didn't want to go around there on the chance he would run into his old mentor. He was getting sick of his constant badgering to reconsider joining the Junior League. He wanted nothing to do with a fantasy from the League to keep him in his place. To make him believe he was important.

But on some level, as small as it was, he missed running with Ollie and his friends. He considered them all his brothers and Arrow was like a father to him. But he wouldn't go back. He was too determined to make his own way as a real hero.

"Maybe I should just get a new city." He sighed, sliding off his perch and on to the roof of the building. He shot and arrow at a tree and used his bow to slide to the ground. Walking away into the shadows, his old com-link went off. He sighed and put it in his ear. "Look Wally, for the last time, I'm not joining-"  
"We need you to come to the cave. Something's happened. We need your help." Wally cut him off. Roy could hear the tension in his friend's voice. He stopped waking. "What's wrong Wally?" He said, a growing worry churning in his stomach.

"It's Robin. We were attacked last night and someone took him. We don't know where he is." Roy's heart fell into his stomach.

"Who took him Wally?" Wally didn't answer right away. "Wally, who took him?" He asked again, more forcefully.

"Death Stroke." Wally answered. Roy smashed his fist into the brick wall of the nearest building. He knew this mans reputation; what he was capable of.

"I'll be there tonight." Roy slipped the com-link into his belt. He didn't know a lot about this assassin, but he knew someone who did. Roy started to run to the place he had parked his motorcycle. Sitting down, he tapped the monitor and the built in computer blinked to life. He pulled up a map of the city and hoped he could locate her. If anyone knew about other assassins, it was Cheshire. He just hoped they were still on talking terms and she wouldn't try to kill him again…

*"Red Arrow's on his way." Wally said to Aqualad, pulling his own com-link out of his ear.

"Why did you call him?" Artemis asked, a little irritated at the fact there would be another archer present.

"Because Robin is like his little brother. He's not that bad of a detective and we need him." He answered her coldly. "Deal with it." The anger in his eyes took her by surprise. She had never seen him this angry before. She looked at the other boys. Conner was leaning against the wall, Megan at his side. Whatever she was saying, it didn't seem to be registering with him. He was staring at the floor so intensely, she actually thought lasers might shoot out at any second. Kaldur didn't look that much better. His face was sporting worry lines that normally never showed through his layer of calmness. Artemis never really thought about how much Robin meant to them. In fact, she had never though about how much Robin meant to her. His funny laugh, the way her could always prank Wally and then be one step ahead of him when he wanted revenge. He could always lighten the mood and was never a jerk when he beat them in a sparing match (Which was quite often.) or how he was just fun to be around. Artemis felt her mouth form into a frown.

_Oh great_. She thought. _Now I'm worrying too._

*Batman was sitting alone in the Batcave watching the cave's Surveillance footage of the kidnapping, looking for any clues he may have missed when Alfred walked in.

"Would you like something to eat, sir? You've been down here ever since you returned."

"No Alfred. Thank you." Bruce answered, not even looking up. Alfred sighed and went back upstairs. Bruce rewound the video for what seemed like the thousandth time. He had to have missed something! Anything to tell him where this man took his son. He leaned back and rubbed his eyes. He needed to find Dick before something happened to him. But he had the bad feeling that something already had.

*Robin groaned. He could feel the coldness of the hard metal floor on his face, making him shiver. Slowly, he let his eyes flitter open. He was in some kind of metal room, almost like a safe. In the darkness, he could make out a big door with a hatch wheel in the middle of it. As he sat up, a wave of nausea passed over him and he fought to not be sick. The room he was in was small and it had no windows.

_Maybe I am in a safe._ He thought. _But how did I- _

All the memories of the attack floated back into his mind. _Oh brilliant._ He thought. The wheel of the door turned and opened, letting in white light that made Robin squint.

"Morning." Death Stroke chuckled. "How did the bird sleep in his new cage?" Robin grimaced and stood up. He wouldn't let this guy see him so weak again. He grabbed for a weapon from his utility belt, but it wasn't there. Instantly panicked, he checked himself. He was still in his normal clothes from last night. His hand flung to his face. His sunglasses were gone.

A deep pit formed in his stomach. He backed away from the man, suddenly feeling a lot smaller than he had in a while. He felt naked without his belt. Death Stroke laughed again.

"Don't worry Mr. Grayson. Your secret and the big man's are safe. For now." He moved out of the room and beckoned for Dick to follow. "If you want it to stay that way, you'll do as I say."

Hesitantly, Dick followed the assassin out of the room. The hallway look liked a stretched out version of the room he had been it. All grey and no windows. A series of doors lined the walls. Death Stroke stopped at the end of the hall and stood next the last door.

"I've been watching you for a while now Robin. I've seen how you operate- The way you can solve any problem in your way, your specialized fighting technique. You're self-sufficient. I like that. I wouldn't be surprised if that little team falls apart without you." He moved and opened the door to reveal what the room held.

Dick's heart stopped.

A suit and mask hung on a rack inside. It was black along with a cape of the same color, and had a silver belt, boots and gloves. The mask was a full head cover that looked like a skull. There was a blood red x running down the chest.

"No way would I ever-" He started to back away.

"A kid with morals. Cute." Faster than Dick could react, Death Stroke jabbed a syringe into Dick's neck. Dick sucked in a staggered breath and felt his knees buckle. Death Stroke caught him as he fell and his vision grew fuzzy.

"What… is… this?" His words became slurred. Death Stroke chuckled.

"Just a little something for your mind. Don't worry. I'm a man of my word. I'll keep your secret. Even if you don't remember it, Red X."

Everything went black.


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3- _

Roy's locator led him to an old apartment building on the outskirts of the city. The cool night air bit at his nose as he climbed up the fire escape and into the building via a window. "Chesh? You here?" He slowly walked around the dark room. Nothing sounded in response. He sighed. "I won't beg Jade…" SMACK! Something hard made contact with the back of his skull. Roy fell to the floor and someone pinned his arms behind his back. Then the attacker started to laugh.

"Hi Cheshire." Roy grumbled.

"You're getting better." She smirked. "You almost turned around in time this round." She stood up and let go of Roy's arms. He sat up and rubbed the back of his head. "Why is your knee so hard?" She crossed her arms. "Why are you at my hideout Robin Hood?" She walked over to the wall and flipped a switch. Over head lights flipped on. The apartment room was small, and had limited furniture; just a dusty old couch and small kitchen. She plopped down and propped her feet up on the couches arm rest. "I thought you didn't want to talk with the enemy." Roy moved over and sat down next to her. He pinched his thumb and forefinger on his nose and scrunched his eyes shut. "Look, I'm here because I need help from someone with your know-how." Cheshire sat up and looked at him. "Intriguing."

Roy sighed again. "What do you know about the assassin Death Stroke?"

"Only that he is a man you _do_ _not_ want to tangle with." She took her mask off. Underneath, her green eyes flashed with concern. "You're not going after him on some crazy mission to prove yourself are you?" Roy snapped his head up.

"No! No, not to prove anything, but I am going after him." Jade stood up and walked over to him. "He'll kill you. Even as good as you are, you wouldn't last two minutes."

"Thanks for the encouragement." Roy grumbled. His headache was getting worse. It had started on the way over and Jade's landing hadn't helped. "Look," He finally said. He took Robin. The team asked for my help in getting him back." Jade was quiet for a long time. "Well?" Roy asked after a while. "Do you know anything or not?" Jade whispered something. "Um, what?" He asked. She ran to her desk and opened a drawer. Inside was a small, silver laptop. "I knew about this." She told him, typing quickly on the computer. When she found what she was looking for, she turned the computer around for him to see. It was a file all on Death Stroke. "I've been keeping tabs on him for a while now."

"Is there no honor?" Roy laughed dryly as he walked over.

"I trust no one." Jade said, emotionlessly. On the screen of the computer, there was a constant page of information, updating itself every few seconds under the label _Death_ _Stroke_. Everything he had done in the last few days was here. "Jade." Roy breathed. "This is… How did you… how is this possible-"

"I have my ways." was all she said, and Roy figured that was all he was going to get. She scrolled down to the bottom of the screen and clicked on it. "I hacked into the cave where your little friends have their base after I heard about the break in." Truthfully, she had gotten the video feed to make sure that Artemis was okay. They both watched Death Stroke blow a hole in the cave and defeat the team one by one. Jade watched Roy at the last bit when Death Stroke left with Robin. Roy's jaw clenched and his brow furrowed. "Do you know where he is?" He asked, not looking up from the screen.

"No." She sighed. This is just a list of what he's done in public." He sucked in along breath and walked back to the window he had come in from. Leaning out, he called back, "Thanks." She walked over to the widow and gave him an unexpected kiss. Roy's cheeks reddened. "What was that for?" He asked, a small grin on his face.

"Just don't die okay?" She put her mask back on. " It'd be a pain to go get your body."

*Something about this felt wrong. Pulling out wires of a security control panel for a small Wayne Tech. Lab, he felt like something was wrong, but he didn't know what.

"_Security feed offline_." A computerized voice called out. One of the security guards he had knocked out groaned and started to move. The boy walked over and smashed his boot to the man's head, re-knocking him out. He wondered why Mr. Wayne would hire such bad security. He pried open the inner door of the lab and walked inside. The room was full of high tech computers, screens full of codes and lots of paper on every desk. He walked to the back of the room to a small vault. He reached into his belt for a small explosive. Placing it on the vault door, he felt another uneasy tug in his stomach. He groaned. His headache was coming back. It felt like he was forgetting something really important, but he didn't know what it was. He pushed the feeling aside- he had a mission to complete. He ducked behind a desk and the vault door exploded. As the smoke cleared he made his way inside. In the middle of the room was a small, silver case. He picked it up and placed it into his belt. _I did it_. He thought.

"Hey! Didn't your mom ever teach you that stealing is wrong?" A sarcastic voice rang out behind him. He swore and spun around. Someone had found him.

*"Wally, calm down." Artemis shouted. Wally had be running in circles (or what he called pacing) muttering about how he was going to give Death Stroke a swirly.

"You just wait! I'll show him… Get Robin back… Nice big toilet for his big fat head…" He kept muttering and pounding his fists together. Artemis rolled her eyes and groaned. She moved over to the kitchen and pulled out a box of cookies. Silently munching on them, she realized how quiet the place was without their little knuckle head goofing around. Other than Wally's fuming, everyone else wasn't talking much or was secluded into their rooms. A tight ball formed in her stomach. She didn't like the quiet.

_"Speedy: B07." _The cave's computerized voice rang out.

"It's Red Arrow!" Someone shouted irritably. Artemis sighed. He was here.

*Conner was sitting in his room, staring intently at the wall. The events of the night kept replaying in his head. He had heard the beeping! He should have been more on guard. He closed his eyes and saw in his mind Robin's silent plea for help before he lost consciousness. Conner furrowed his brow. He owed Robin for helping him escape Cadmus. Maybe if he was more like Superman he could have done a better job instead of getting his butt kicked.

A soft knock on his door interrupted his thoughts. "Uh, Conner? Red Arrow's here." Me'gann's voice called from behind the door. Conner sighed and called back, "Be out in a second." He closed his hand into a fist. He was going to repay Robin.

*The team gathered in the practice area of the cave around Red Arrow. "Someone needs to update that machine." He grumbled. Wally ran up to him and smacked him lightly on the back. "Glad you came, man." Red Arrow nodded. "I look out for my friends." Artemis wasn't sure, but she swore he looked at her when he said that.

"I only know bits and pieces about what Death Stroke is up too, but we should head out on a lead I might have."

_"That is a negative."_ A mechanical voice spoke behind them. Red Tornado flew in and said,_ "Given Death Stroke's reputation, Batman has decided to take you off of finding Robin and will be taking full responsibility of that assignment."_

Faster than the team thought he was, Wally ran up to Red Tornado and began shouting at the stupidity of taking them out of the picture.

_"You will receive updates on the progress of Batman, but for now you have another mission. A Wayne Tech. Lab has been broken into by an unknown assailant. You will apprehend him and bring him to justice." _

"I came here to help Robin, not catch some thief." Red Arrow muttered. They rest of the team moved to the Bio ship hanger, practically dragging Wally who was still yelling and kicking. Aqulad hung back.

"Batman is doing everything he can?" He asked Tornado.

_"Yes."_

Aqualad nodded and walked off to join his team.

*The team slowly made their way through the Wayne Lab. All the guards had been found alive, and now all they had to do was catch the thief.

"Wonder what he wants…" Artemis began to say. There was a sudden explosion above them.

"Found him!" Kid Flash yelled as he ran up the steps ahead of everyone else.

"Kid, Wait!" Artemis called after him. He was already up the stairs and didn't stop.

_ I just need to bag this little punk and we can go get Robin back! _Kid thought as he ran up the remaining wasn't going to let Batman distract him with little missions. He burst through the blown in doors and found the thief standing in the middle of the room, putting a small silver case into his belt. The thief was small- smaller than Wally had expected him to be. He was in a back suit with silver boots and gloves to match the silver gray color of his belt. He wore a mask that covered his face. It looked like a skull. On his chest was a long, red X.

"Hey! Didn't your mom ever teach you that stealing is wrong?" Kid scoffed at him.

The thief didn't say a word, but he moved into a fighting stance. "Not a talker? That's cool. I like the sound of my own voice anyway." Kid Flashed joked. He had planned to just run the thief down, but faster than he anticipated, the thief whipped a tiny, metal ball out of his belt and hurled at Kid. Before it even hit him, it exploded in a burst of light.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry this took so long! I know that having things to do isn't really an excuse, but that's really the only reason I didn't get on this sooner. Thank you to all my followers and reviewers! You guys rock. Anyway, hope you enjoy! :D**

Chapter 4-

As the bomb exploded, Kid was thrown back through the door and back down the stairs.

"Ow…" He mumbled, rubbing his head. As his vision cleared, he looked up to see the rest of the team looking down at him with very annoyed faces.

"Brilliant Baywatch. Blowing our cover is exactly what we wanted to do." Artemis pulled him up by the arm with a scowl fixed on her face.

"Hey we don't exactly have time for this, okay!" Kid shrugged her grip off with a scowl forming in his face as well.

"Let us just finish this mission before we attempt to aid on the search for Robin." Aqualad said calmly, pushing Artemis and Kid apart. Both turned away with their arms crossed. Ms. Martian giggled.

Another loud crash was heard from the room Kid had flown out of. As the dust cleared, they saw the thief breaking open a window to escape out of.

"Not happening." Super Boy cracked his knuckles and charged at the thief to tackle him, but he was dodged it so quickly that he seemed to disappear.

"Huh?" Super Boy asked confused as he crashed into the wall. Artemis shot arrows in multiple patterns, attempting to trap the thief. But he jumped out of the way at the last second like he knew what she was going to do already.

_Ms. Martian, now! _Artemis yelled over their mental link.

_Right! _

Ms. M flew towards the thief and raised her hands. Her eyes began glowing green and she entered his mind. The plan was for her to see what the thief's goal was and then to knock him out. But once she was in, she mind was flooded with memories of the team in the cave, and large house and a man with dark hair, circus music, and hundreds of others she couldn't even process. The mental connection broke with a snap and both the thief and Ms. M yelled out in pain. Ms. M fell to the floor, unconscious, but Super Boy caught her before she hit the ground. The thief staggered back towards the broken window, his hand clutching his head like he was having a bad headache. Quickly, he pulled out a silver object from his belt and threw it at the team.

"Bomb!" Artemis called, and the ducked for cover.

The entire room was blow to bits.

The thief shimmied down the side of the build and escaped down the street to where his motorcycle was waiting.

Kid Flash pushed a chuck of the fallen ceiling off of himself, and began to cough and brush himself off. There was no room left. Now it was a gaping hole in the side of the building. As his teammates began to dig their way out of the debris, Kid peer out onto the newly made view of the street. The thief was driving out of sight with his stolen goods. Kid grimaced. He was going to get this guy.

*Cheshire moved through the ventilation shaft inch by inch. The metal material of the vents had locked in all the heat she had been giving off, and sweat began to slide down her neck. Normally, her curiosity had never gotten the better of her; never going this far to find the answer to a question. But she had to know why an assassin as careful as Death Stroke would risk breaking into a strong-hold used by the Justice League, openly attack the people inside with the security cameras still on, and kidnap the member with the most determined and psychotic mentor. She kept squirming through the vent until she reached the end of the vent shaft at a slowly turning fan. Under it was a ventilator. She swerved her body silently and popped open the hatch.

Normally, Cheshire used her head and would never try break into the layer of someone like Death Stroke, but when her computer said that he frequently visited this location-a warehouse in the garment district of Star City, and that last time he hadn't been alone, well, it was too good to pass up.

Swinging her legs out of the vent, Cheshire dropped into a pitch black room. Slowly, she stood up straight and looked around. She heard a small motor click, and whipped her heard around. "Uh oh…" She bent down into a fighting position as the lights in the room all turned on at once, temporarily blinding her.

"Now why would a tricky little kitty like you be in my house?" A deep voice called out to her. She had to squint, but Cheshire could make out the outline of a tall, bury man holding a long and fiercely sharp long sword.

"Just wondering why a person like you would want a sidekick." Cheshire answered back. Death Stroke moved into her field of vision. His posture was condescending and he towered over her.

"I'll let you in on a little secret since you were good enough to find me. Those 'heroes' in spandex have kids to pass on all their knowledge to; to take up their mantle when they're gone. To be remembered by. Well, why shouldn't I be remembered through a protégé?"

"So why take a kid whose already been mentored?" Cheshire was slowly moving her hand behind her to grab a small knife. If he was telling her this, she knew he didn't plan on letting her leave.

"Eh," he shrugged. "I didn't want to go through training someone from scratch. Plus, the standards I have the kid can meet." He ran his hand along his blade. "But why do you want to know? You're little crush ask you?" Under her mask, Cheshire's eyes grew wide. Death Stroke laughed.

"Spying on me is a double edged sword, honey. I can see you too." A small hint of something Cheshire hadn't felt in years came creeping into her stomach. It was panic. She needed to end this. She grabbed the hilt of her knife and charged at the mercenary. But even while she ran at him, knife posed at his throat, she knew something was off. Death Stroke made no effort to move. He just stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, not even bothering to try and block her oncoming attack. Before she could think of a reason for this, a large object came crashing down on her back, causing her to fall forward onto the floor. Her knife skittered away. Cheshire cursed and looked up at her hidden assailant. He was small, with an all black suit with silver mixed in and a skull mask. The red x on his chest gleamed in the light.

_So that's Bird Boy. _Cheshire thought to herself.

"X! That was fast." Death Stroke chuckled. "You get what I wanted?" X just nodded and turned back to Cheshire.

"Excellent. And anybody in the way was…?"  
"Taken care of."

"Wonderful!" Death Stroke clapped his hands together. "I knew I made a good decision when I picked you. I assume you know our guest?"

X didn't respond, but he kept his gaze fixed on Cheshire.

"Well, then. I guess you two should catch up." Even though he wore a mask, Cheshire knew Death Stroke was wearing a smile.

Cheshire sighed. _Roy's going to owe me big time for this… _


	5. Chapter 5

***_* Summer really made me lose track of time... I almost forgot I needed to update! Sorry! Hope you enjoy this chapter :D**

Chapter 5-

Batman knelt down next to the whole blown into the side of the cave. Using a hand held analyzer, he scanned the bits of the bomb debris. He thought that finding out what bomb Death Stroke used could help him determine where he got it from, and maybe show him where he could have taken Robin.

"_Fragments Analyzed: Analysis incomplete." _The automated voice of his scanner called out.

"How does Death Stroke even do that…" Batman sighed in anger. He tossed the scanner to the side and scratched his chin. He hadn't been able to think clearly since Robin had gone missing.

_Stay clam._ He thought to himself. _Panicking won't help him._ _Dick is strong. He'll be okay._

_ "Kid Flash, B07. Artemis, B12. Aqualad, B08. Super Boy, B10. Ms. Martian, B11. Red Arrow, B05." _The team piled into the cave. Kid Flash and Artemis were already in a heated argument.

"If you had your head in the game, he wouldn't have gotten away!"

"I'm sorry I'm more focused on our missing team mate!"

"And blowing the mission was a great way to help him Baywatch." Artemis slapped Kid outside the head. Kid rubbed his head and grumbled. Batman sighed. So the team had failed, and he had also lost his quiet needed for him to work. He stood up and dismissed everyone to the showers but Aqualad.

"What happened." It wasn't a question. Aqualad sighed. He didn't like this part of the job. Always reporting to Batman and facing his wrath when the team didn't perform well… He didn't know how Robin could do this all the time.

"We faced a skilled adversary. The team fought well, just as they have been trained to do, but it was almost as if he knew what to expect when fighting us."

"Did Ms. Martian read his mind?" Batman asked. Aqualad shook his head.

"She attempted to but was thrown out. She said there were too many jumbled memories to sort through. It was a mess." Aqualad ran his hand through his short hair.

"This… Red X," He looked up to Batman's unyielding stare. "He wasn't someone we were expecting. And he got what he came for."

*Ms. Martian sat down slowly onto her bed. She was still fighting nausea from their fight. He head pounded and she had a sickening familiar feeling in her stomach. Her task had been easy enough; read the thief's mind, see what he was up to and who sent him. But when she had entered his mind, something she had done to people hundreds of times, she couldn't fight against the tide of thoughts, mixed emotions and memories. Something was stopping her from sorting through them. Almost as if she knew it was wrong to invade him like that. And if that wasn't bad enough, after failing in her part of the mission, she had passed out, making Conner have to leave the fight to watch over her. But what bothered her most, though, about what had happened was what she saw in the thief's mind. She saw a horrible image of a young dead couple dead on the ground in a pool of blood, eerie circus music playing in the background. She felt her chest hurt with the sadness from the image, and then it quickly changed to fear as she witnessed a man in a dirty suit and greasy hair laughing at the dead couple. Her mind had spun with the mixed feeling of panic and fear, and she began to lose the connection. But right before she did, Ms. Martian had felt a burst of warm light, and the odd feeling of happiness cut through the despair. She caught the sight of a young man with dark hair and a kind smile opening a door to a giant black, gothic house on a hill. She had tried to latch on to the memory, but it was already too late. She had been thrown out into the real world. She sighed and rolled over on to her side. She wished robin was here. He would have been able to help her.

*Deep within the warehouse, Red X crashed into a bathroom. He ripped off his mask and sucked in a deep ragged breath of air. He turned on the sink and splashed the cool water in his face, but it did little to calm him down. He looked at himself in the mirror, his bright blue eyes staring back at him looked clouded.

_ What did that Martian do to me? _He asked himself. After a few more sharp breaths, he relaxed and looked at the case holding what he had taken from the lab. He put his mask back on. He had completed his mission, and that was all that mattered.


End file.
